Microscope vs Point Cloud & BIM Viewer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side ā with what reviewers say about each.
Microscope
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Discover the Microscopic World Did you know there's an invisible universe to our eyes? With this educational app, you can explore the fascinating microscopic world in a fun and simple way, thanks to your portable microscope. The app guides you step by step to use your compound optical microscope. Learn how light and lenses work together to reveal what we can't see with the naked eye. You'll see everyday objects like never before! Explore, learn and experiment 30 guided experiments to prepare your own samples. Learn to use all the accessories: viewer, focus drum, lights, slides and more. Discover how to observe opaque or translucent elements with direct and indirect light. Capture your discoveries Take photos and videos of what you see. Save your findings in the gallery. Three exploration modes - Explorer Microscope: portable and free, ideal for investigating in nature. - Compact Microscope: stable and precise with your samples, perfect for scientific observations. - Laboratory Microscope: with stability and precision, like in your own lab. Learn by playing Identify the parts of the microscope and its accessories. Prepare your own samples with tools like tweezers, dissection knife and slides. Observe opaque or translucent elements with direct and indirect light. Adjust focus and zoom to see every detail. Designed for curious boys and girls, this app turns learning into an adventure. Explore, experiment and awaken your passion for science!
Point Cloud & BIM Viewer
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Point Cloud & BIM Viewer opens laser scans and BIM models on your Mac, iPad and iPhone ā measure them, cut sections, see where the building differs from the design, and export the results. Everything stays on the device: no account, no upload. A sample project with a guide shows where everything is. FORMATS ⢠E57 with registered scan setups, colour, intensity and spherical photographs ⢠LAS and LAZ 1.0 to 1.4, with colour, intensity and classification; COPC opens as the LAZ it is ⢠PLY, ASCII and binary; PTS and PTX; XYZ and TXT with intensity or RGB columns ⢠IFC models, also zipped or gzipped; USDZ, USD, OBJ, STL, glTF and GLB ⢠DXF floor plans laid under the scan, with the drawing's layers to switch off ⢠A whole job at once: several files, a folder or a zip become one project Import never modifies the original; a scan of a hundred million points imports in tens of megabytes. EVERYTHING IN ONE PROJECT The side panel lists what a project holds: the cloud and each of its scans, every model file and floor plan, and saved cuts. Show, hide, colour and look at each on its own ā colour every scan setup to check the registration. Add scans later, show several model files together, send a project by AirDrop. THE SCAN AGAINST THE MODEL ⢠Every point coloured by its distance to the model, with a tolerance you set ⢠Which elements the scan shows as built, which are missing, and where it never went ⢠The elements built out of tolerance, listed ⢠Place a model by pairs of corners, by the walls in the scan, or where its georeference says ⢠Measure from the scan to a surface of the model SCAN WITH LIDAR On an iPhone or iPad with LiDAR, scan a room into a project, fit it to the other scans, and continue later. For orientation, not millimetres. THE PROJECT IN AR On iPhone and iPad, stand the project on a table, or at 1:1 in the building itself by a few shared points, with a scan's panorama over the walls. ON THE MAP Coordinates read as a surveyor writes them: S-JTSK Y and X, or E and N in the system the file or the IFC georeference names. Keep points by them, see the project on a map with an aerial view under the scan, or place it by hand. The map loads from Apple Maps only when switched on. THE MODEL Browse elements by storey, class or file and find them by name, class, GlobalId or property. Select them in the view or by rectangle, colour and group them. Read every property, inherited ones too. Check a model against IDS: what fails is listed, and each failure can become a note. MEASURE ⢠Distance with its horizontal and vertical parts, and height straight up ⢠Face to face: wall thickness, clear width, clear height ⢠The shortest distance between two elements, or from an element to the scan ⢠Polylines, angles and best-fit areas ⢠Notes anchored to a point or an element ⢠Every pick is verified against the cloud at full resolution; an uncertain one is refused ⢠Metric or imperial units SECTIONS AND ROOMS A box you move, turn and reshape by dragging, a plane or a slice. Where a cut crosses the model, its solids are hatched and outlined. Save a cut with its view under a name and return to it. SEEING THE SCAN RGB, intensity, classification, a heatmap, or elevation over the whole scan or a band of a few centimetres. A grid, views from all six sides, and panoramas from the scanner's position. ISSUES IN BCF Notes leave as BCF topics with a viewpoint and the element they are on; BCF files from other tools open as notes. EXPORT The cloud or a single scan as E57 with panoramas, LAS, PLY or XYZ; a section as LAS; CSV, JSON with sections, BCF, a PNG snapshot. FREE AND PRO Free with one project; Pro removes the limit for a single payment, no subscription. Projects you have stay open either way. WHAT IT DOES NOT DO Point data is not edited, and tripod scans are registered in the scanner's software. Clouds in two different coordinate systems are not brought into one. Models you open are read, never modified.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Microscope at none against Point Cloud & BIM Viewer's 1. Microscope also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Point Cloud & BIM Viewer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Microscope asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Microscope | Point Cloud & BIM Viewer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | ā | Every 2 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No ā better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac ā better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 ā better | 17.0 |
| Further details ā not scored | ||
| Size | 44 MB | 37 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ę©ę é± | Sew Grader by Virtalia |
In-app purchases
Microscope
No in-app purchases
Point Cloud & BIM Viewer
- Pointclouds Viewer Pro$6.99
Questions
Is Microscope free?
Is Point Cloud & BIM Viewer free?
Do Microscope or Point Cloud & BIM Viewer have ads?
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